Sharpsburg work halted pending more information about human bones found by utility crews

Peoples Natural Gas Co. said it has halted construction of a gas pipeline in Sharpsburg after remains unearthed at the work site were judged to be human.

“It’s certainly an unexpected discovery,” said Nick Paradise, a People’s Gas spokesman.

Peoples crews were digging on private property along Short Canal Street as part of a larger, long-term project to replace thousands of miles of outdated pipelines in southwestern Pennsylvania with new, state-of-the-art lines.

Paradise said that the project is a “major element of our effort to reduce our Scope 1 carbon emissions by 60% by 2035.”

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said on June 23 that the skeletal remains are human. It is considering whether the site is part of a Native American burial ground, and it will consult experts in anthropology and archaeology to help determine the age and origin of the bones.

Paradise would not say whether the Sharpsburg site would be permanently off-limits to construction work if the bones are determined to be Native American, saying the company would “cross that bridge” when it gets there.

The State Historic Preservation office of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission said that to date bones, experts assess the remains in the context and nature of the burial — including burial practices, artifacts, funerary objects, and where the burial appears in layers of rock sediment.

A qualified bioarcheologist or forensic anthropologist should be called in for visual examination of the remains, and should avoid any test that damages the remains, such as carbon-14 dating.

Because the remains may be Native American, the commission recommends leaving them where they were found so that “groups that may be culturally affiliated with or may be lineal descendants of the deceased” may be consulted.

Allegheny County Communications Director Amie Downs declined to comment about the current location of the bones, stating that information is confidential.

The Medical Examiner’s office has said it will take “all measures to respect and protect the property and remains.”